CZECH REPUBLIC

The Czech Republic is a country in Central Europe that is bordered by Poland in the northeast, Germany in the Northwest and west, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east. The Independent Republic of Czechoslovakia was formed in 1918 after the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed after World War I. In 1946 the Communist Party took over but because of increasing dissatisfaction with the Communist regime eventually in 1968 there was an invasion by the countries bound by the Warsaw Pact and they held a presence there until 1989 when the Communist regime collapsed. In 1993 the Czech Republic came into being. Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic and is probably the most visited city in this area.